Next NSX may go right-hand-drive

15 January 2013Matt Campbell

The next-generation NSX supercar may be viable for an Australian launch.

A second concept car precursor to the new-generation model has been revealed at the Detroit motor show overnight by Honda's luxury arm Acura, and Drive has learnt a right-hand-drive version is a distinct possibility for the production version, due around 2015.

Chief designer for Acura, Jon Ikeda, told Drive he's convinced there will be a right-hand-drive model at some point.

"I'm sure it will be sold in right-hand-drive markets - it's a global car, that's what we're trying to do," Ikeda says. "So yes, I'm sure there will be a right-hand-drive version of that vehicle."

The second version concept features sleeker lines, bigger proportions and is envisaged to be offered with a mid-mounted V6 petrol engine teamed to an all-wheel-drive powertrain.

Ikeda says the "low, sleek, wide" new concept better shows the intentions of the upcoming production model.

"It is a supercar that we're trying to build, so it has to drive, it has to perform," he says.

"To say it will be exactly like [the concept] when it comes out two years from now... I would be hesitant to say that."

Ikeda says the new concept doesn't stray far from the original model, but fine-tunes the dream idea.

"The target car was last year - we're evolving it and we still feel very strongly about the direction that we're going - and [the new concept] is part of the progression of what we are trying to achieve.

On whether the Acura would also be sold as Honda, Ikeda played it safe.

"You're going to have to talk to some of the other big people who decide these things, you know. In my studio, we do nothing but Acuras."

For the first time for the next-generation NSX the company also exhibited how the interior of the car could look.

Ikeda says the new NSX concept illustrates what the inside will be like, down to details as fine as the depth of the seat cushions.